April 15, 2013 started as a peaceful day in Boston, Massachusetts. Patriot’s Day always comes off as a relatively peaceful, relaxing day in Massachusetts. “There’s three things you can do on Patriot’s Day,” said Patrick Downnes in the film (Patriot’s Day). “You can watch the marathon, you can run the marathon, or you can get out and cheer for the Red Sox.” The Boston bombings attack on Patriot’s Day 2013 came as a shock to all Bostonians and the rest of America. No one saw it coming, and no one was ready for the pain that would ensue in working to recover.

Three years after the bombings, Mark Wahlberg set out to tell some of the stories from that agonizing day. Bostonians had their standards set high for this film, leaving Wahlberg little room for error. He needed to find a way to communicate all the emotion, agony, and rancor of the event, and he had to try to find a way to tell it without reopening wounds. Luckily, Wahlberg did not disappoint.

After watching Patriot’s Day, I couldn’t think of a way to describe how I felt. And after thinking and reviewing on end, all I could come up with was one word: real. Normally, when I see a movie based on tragic events, it doesn’t register to me as real. It all seems fake, as if there couldn’t be so much hatred in such a beautiful world. But with Patriot’s Day, I knew it was real, as I had experienced it all before and I knew the bombings were going to happen.

For every second of the movie I felt pure fear. Not the kind of fear you feel in thrillers such as Scream, or The Shining, but legitimate fear. I felt as if I was in the moment, as if I was standing right there when it all happened. I don’t know if this was because of the quality of the film itself, or the fact that I remembered everything that happened when the bombings occurred.

But once I saw the film, everything solidified in my mind. I felt that it healed wounds I didn’t even realize were there. I knew it was all true; I felt it all. I strongly recommend this movie; however, some parts can understandably be a little gruesome, so I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. If presented the chance to go see Patriot’s Day, I strongly suggest you do.